Is This Really Love?
by Aneko.Inoue
Summary: Kari comes to earth with Kishu to help him gather some information on something that he won't tell her. A new enemy has appeared and it seems that they're after Kari. Love blossoms and it seems that Deep Blue isn't as dead as everyone thinks. KxI RxOC R
1. Prologue

"Kishu, why can't I go with you?" I asked.

"Because, it's too dangerous." He replied.

"But that's not fair!" I whine. "I want to go and help you, Pai-sama, and Taru-chan to save our planet too! I'm a year younger than you and a twice better warrior, if you can handle it, then so can I!"

"Kari, it's not really up to me to decide whether you can come or not, it's really up to Pai and Taruto." Kishu replied placing an arm on my shoulder.

I gazed into his golden cat-like eyes and felt like he was lying. I didn't say anything, but my eyes filled with tears.

"Kari, please don't cry." Kishu said wrapping his arms around me.

"But I want to go and help save our planet too!" I cried into his shirt.

He pulled me to arms length and looked me straight in the eyes.

"I'll talk it over with Pai and Taruto and see if you can come with us." He said wiping away my tears. "So please don't cry."

He evaporated and I was left all alone, but I knew that he was going to be back soon.

**The Next Day**

I felt someone shaking my shoulder gently and slowly opened my eyes. My gaze met with Kishu's.

"Do you still want to help save our planet?" he asked.

A big smile stretched across my face and I flung my arms around his neck.

"Thank you so much!" I said happily. "Did you come to pick me up?"

"Something like that." He replied.

"Well then, let's go." I said.

Kishu wrapped his arms around me and I did the same to him. He evaporated with me and I saw that we were on Earth. Pai and Taruto had unleashed a Kimera Anima and the pesky Mew Mews I'd heard so much about were fighting it. Kishu floated down into and nearby tree and let go of me.

"Kishu, what are you—"

Kishu covered your mouth. "Shh, we need you to tell those Mew Mews a lie for us." He said quietly. "You're going to be our secret weapon. We need you to go with them and act like I kidnapped you. But you can't tell them who you are, got it?"

I nodded and Kishu removed his hand.

"Will I be able to come back with you, though?" I asked.

"Sure, I'll come and get you when you can come back with Pai, Taruto and I." Kishu said. "Now come on, let's have a little introduction, shall we? And remember, you're my hostage, so act like it."


	2. Kari

Chapter 1: Kari

Kishu grabbed my wrist and pulled me out of the tree. I could've easily escaped, but I knew that I had to go along with the plan. I took a deep breath.

"Help! Somebody, help me!" I screamed, struggling with as much effort to make it look real, but with as little so that I wouldn't break free.

The Mew Mews turned around and gasped as they saw me.

"Kishu, let that girl go!" the pink one I believed to be Ichigo yelled.

"Make me Kitty-Cat." Kishu smirked. He dangled me over the Kimera Anima, which had large fangs.

Now, I wasn't really scared of it, but I was great at acting. I trembled and a tear slid down my face.

"Better hurry up now, or else this girl's going to die." He said.

"I don't think so." Ichigo yelled. "Zakuro, you and Mint take care of Kishu, Lettuce you and Pudding help me defeat this Kimera Anima."

"Got it!" the others replied.

The Mew Mews split up and Kishu flew down into a grove of cherry blossoms. I knew that he was thinking of another alternative plan, but I wasn't sure of what it was this time. Ichigo, the green Mew and the yellow Mew followed us into the trees. Kishu turned me around to face the Mew Mews. He wrapped an arm around my torso, holding my arms to my side, and brought the other one under my chin. He smirked as the Mew Mews stared at him.

"Take another step and she dies." He said, tightening his grip on me, really making it harder for me to breathe. He was **really** starting to freak me out, but I knew that he wouldn't _really_ be able to hurt me, and I knew that much for sure.

My eyes fluttered for a minute, and then I managed to say something. "Please… help… me." I muttered before fainting _for real_ in Kishu's arms.

_**FF**_

When I woke up, I was lying in a bed in someone's room. I felt a damp cloth on my forehead.

_Where am I? What happened?_

The door opened and I quickly closed my eyes again. I heard a girl and a boy talking.

"Is she going to be okay?" the girl asked.

"She should be, she just fainted from Kishu strangling her." The boy said.

"What's wrong with her neck?" the girl asked.

"Oh, Ichigo said that that was there before Kishu tried to strangle her, so don't really know what it is." The boy said.

"Are you sure that Kishu won't come back for her?" the girl asked.

"He might, but I highly doubt it." The boy answered.

I heard the door close and someone pulled a chair up next to the bed. I opened my eyes again and saw a boy with blonde hair and aquamarine blue eyes starring at me.

"You're awake, that's a good sign." He sighed.

"W-Where am I?" I asked.

"Café Mew Mew." He answered. "What the hell were you doing with?"

"He… he told me that he was an angel, and I, uh, believe him." I lied.

The boy looked at me curiously. "You…_ believed_ him?"

"Well, yeah, why wouldn't I?" I asked coldly. "He was cute and had appeared when I was going through a tough time."

"Never mind." He sighed scratching his head. "Just get some more rest.

He made to get up, but I grabbed his hand. He turned and looked at me surprised. _I_ was even surprised, but I just had this weird feeling deep inside me.

"Could you… not leave? Please." I said weakly.

He sighed again and sat back down. I smiled and closed my eyes and fell asleep, holding his hand tight in my own.

_**The Next Day**_

"Good morning." I yawned as I walked downstairs.

"Ah, good, you're awake." A guy with long brown hair in a ponytail said.

"Who are you? And where's that boy from before?" I asked.

"My name's Keiichiro, and the boy you must be talking about is Ryou." He answered. "He still hasn't come down yet. Please, why don't you sit down?"

I took a seat and Keiichiro handed me a cup of a steamy brown liquid. I took a sip and it tasted good. I drank it gratefully as he sat down across from me.

"So, where are you from?" he asked.

I put the cup down and starred at it sadly.

_There's no way I can tell him the truth, Kishu told me not to... but what do I say?_

"Do you have a family?" he asked.

"Yeah, an older brother." I said, not looking at him.

"Where is he?"

"Oh he's… he's not here. He's busy with something, so he allowed me to be by myself."

"What's his name?"

"Ki—Kito!" I answered lifting up my head.

"If you don't mind my asking, what happened to your neck? It looks pretty bruised." Keiichiro asked.

"Oh this?" I said, placing my hand on the three marks on my neck. "That happened when I was kidnapped by—I mean, when I, uh, got attacked by that monster the other day!"

"You know, I can tell you're lying." Came the boy's voice. Ryou walked in and sat down next to me.

"It's okay, you don't need to be shy, just tell us the truth." Keiichiro said gently.

_Crap! Now what am I going to do? I can't tell them the truth or else Kishu'd kill me._

The ground shook and the doors to the café flew open. Something wrapped around my waist and dragged me outside the café.

"MEW MEW STRAWBERRY… METAMORIPHOSIS!" Ichigo yelled behind me.

I felt the Kimera Anima release me and Ryou caught me. Kishu appeared in front of us and grabbed my arm.

"Come on Kari, you've distracted them long enough. We've gotten the information that we need." He said tugging on my arm.

"Let go of her Kishu, she's not going anywhere with you." Ryou said tightening his grip on me. I began to struggle against Ryou's grip and he looks at me strangely. "Do you _want_ him to kill you?!"

"He's not going to kill me!" I yelled.

"What makes you so sure of that?!"

"Because he's my oniichan!"

Ryou released me and I clung onto Kishu. Kishu wrapped his arms around me protectively and I smiled.

"I knew that you weren't going to leave me there for too long." I whispered.

"I don't understand this at all!" Ichigo said standing beside Ryou.

"Isn't it obvious? Kishu's my brother! He had me come to distract you so he could do something important." I yelled at her. "We're not evil, but I did have fun pretending to be human." I added with a giggle.

"You mean you're not…" Ryou started.

"Nope," I said. "Kishu, let me show them, please?"

"Fine, but we don't have too long." He sighed placing me down on the ground.

I held my hand out in front of me and an orb of light formed in my hand. After a few moments, it faded away.

"There, satisfied?" I asked.

"Yeah…" Ichigo said.

"Is Kishu _really_ your brother?" Ryou asked curiously.

"Of course he is!" I said. "But I hardly ever saw him growing up."

I turned back to Kishu and felt a tear roll down my cheek. I forced a smile onto my face and flipped my hair back and Ichigo gasped.

"What?" I asked.

"Your ears… they're not like Kishu's." she said.

My eyes filled with tears and turned around and ran into the forest.


	3. Piper

Chapter 2: Piper

_**Ichigo POV**_

Kari's eyes filled with tears and she took off into the forest.

"Wait Kari!" I said. I was about to chase after her when someone grabbed my arm.

"Let her go." Kishu said softly.

"But why?" I asked.

"She needs time to cry." He answered. "Ever since she was born, her ears were like that, and not once did she allow anyone to see her cry. She'd only let me see her cry because I never made a big deal about them. I told her that I thought they made her look cute and she'd stop crying, but then Deep Blue came along and took me away from her…"

"Kishu…" I said softly.

"I wasn't able to be there for her when she needed me the most." Kishu said angrily releasing my arm. Then he added sadly, "I think that she still hasn't been able to forgive me for that."

"But how do you know that for sure?" I asked.

"It's been harder and harder for her to look me in the eyes since I got back." He replied.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't know." I said sympathetically.

"Don't worry, she'll calm down soon enough." Kishu said looking off in the direction that Kari ran.

"What was it that she needed you most for?" Ryou asked.

"She wouldn't say it to my face, but I overheard her one night." Kishu replied. "She was crying about how I wasn't there for her. I think it's because she felt so alone without me there… and during the time I was gone, she started to turn away from people and trust only herself."

_**Kari POV**_

I ran through the forest, trying to get as far away from Ichigo as possible. I slipped on a tree root and fell hard on the ground. I fold my arms and cry into them.

"It's not fair!" I cried. "Why did I have to be different? Why couldn't my ears have been normal?! I hate my ears! I wish… I wish that I could be normal!"

_Kishu was lucky enough to be born normal and to have been chosen to save our planet. Ever since he left, I've been made fun of more because of my ears, and it's getting harder and harder for me to look him in the eyes._

"Why are you crying?" came a girl's voice.

"Great, now I'm hearing things." I sighed. "Not only are my ears too small, but now my brain's malfunctioning."

"Look up." Said the voice.

I looked up and saw a girl, no older than 16 years old, hanging upside down on a tree branch by her legs. She had long brown hair and sapphire blue eyes. She was wearing a white tank top with blue jeans and her body seemed to be glowing faintly.

I blinked as I noticed she had white cat ears and a tail… and if I wasn't mistaken, white wings the size of her body. She smiled and giggled as I moved into a sitting position.

"What's so funny?" I asked, wiping away my tears.

"The fact that you think you've got it bad." She giggled. "Just look at me! I've got the DNA of a snow leopard angel inside of me and I'm doing alright."

"So what? I've got a brother who's normal and I'm not!" I protested.

She sighed. She fell out of the tree doing a back flip and landed gracefully on her feet.

"You just have to have pride in yourself." She said kneeling down in front of me. "When I first discovered about my ears, tail, and wings, I took it pretty badly. I thought of myself as a freak and distanced myself from others. But then I realized that I shouldn't be ashamed of what I am, I should just suck it up, smile, and deal with it."

I stared at her as she explained her story. After she finished, I sat there in silence for a few minutes.

"It's time for me to go, think about what I said Kari, and you'll do fine." The girl said flying off into the sky.

_Who the hell was that girl... and how'd she know my name? I know I've never met her before, have I...?_

I stood up and brushed myself off. I stood there and stared blankly at the ground. I heard something behind me and felt something brush against my leg. I stepped back, caught by surprise, and saw a little white kitten with a ribbon around its neck. I let out a sigh of relief.

"You scared me there for a second." I said scooping up the little kitten. "You're so adorable with your ribbon."

The kitten meowed and curled up in my arms. I smiled and walked back toward the café where I knew that Kishu was waiting for me.

_**Café Mew Mew**_

"Kari! We were so worried about you!" Ichigo cried as I walked into the café.

I laughed. "You sound like Kishu. I'm old enough to take care of myself." I said as Ryou walked in from the back.

"Who's your friend?" Ryou asked, pointing at the sleeping kitten in my arms.

"Oh, this is just a kitten that I found in the forest—or really, she found me." I said looking adoringly at the kitten. "Where's Kishu?"

"He's sitting on the roof thinking." The blue haired girl said pointing up.

"Oh, okay. I guess I'll talk to him about it later…" I said, the last part to myself.

_I wonder what Kishu could be thinking about. Normally, he tells me what's on his mind... have we really changed so much since he was taken away from me?_

"Kari? Are you okay? You look troubled." The green haired girl asked worried.

I just noticed that I was letting my face express my feelings, which I normally didn't do, and I quickly shook my head.

"N-No, I'm fine!" I lied. "I was just thinking about something."

I sat down and placed the kitten in my lap. It was getting late and I was beginning to feel tired. I sat there for a few minutes while the Mew Mews talked amongst themselves and gently stroked the kitten. I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up to see the purple Mew smiling down at me.

"Will you take a walk with me?" she asked sisterly.

"S-Sure." I said getting to my feet. "Um, could you take care of Kurisutaru for me?" I asked the blue haired girl.

"Of course." She replied taking the kitten from me.

I walked out of the café with the purple Mew and she led me over to the edge of the lake. She leaned on the rail and I did the same. (Okay, I'm just gonna use her name, cause I don't feel like saying 'the purple mew' anymore.)

"I noticed you were troubled by something." Zakuro said after a minute. I looked at her curiously. "Call it, 'animal intuition'. I could sense your feelings of insecurity and hurt."

"How did you know?" I asked shocked.

"It was obvious." She replied. "Kishu explained everything to us and told us how it seemed to be harder and harder for you to look him in the eyes."

_Do you have to tell everyone __**everything**__ about me Kishu?!_

"He said that did he?" I said with a laugh. "Guess I shouldn't be surprised, he's always talking about what a disgrace I am and what an embarrassment I am behind my back. Everyone's always telling me that when I'm not around, Kishu's saying how embarrassing it is to have a sister who's so different from everyone else… but I always ignored them."

"What made you change your mind?" Zakuro asked. "Kishu's your brother. Surely you'd believe your brother over a bunch of other people."

"I did, but still… their words echoed in my head when Kishu was taken away from me." I said sadly.

Zakuro put her arms around me comfortingly. "Well, now that Deep Blue's gone, you and Kishu can be together all you want right?"

"Yeah, I guess that's true." I said happily. "Thanks, uh…"

"Zakuro." She replied. "No problem. But if you'll excuse me, it sounds like Mint and Ichigo are about to kill each other again."

I giggled as she headed back to the café where loud shouts and threats were emitting. I closed my eyes and sighed.

"My, my, what have we here?" a playful voice asked above me.

My eyes flashed open and I looked up in front of me. I saw a girl with long yellow-orange hair put back in a long braid and gray eyes wearing a strange kind of warrior outfit. She had a nearly transparent sword that was as long as she was tall and she looked to be no more than ten years old.

"She's looks like the right girl." She said to herself.

"W-Who are you?" I asked.

She giggled. "My name's Piper, and I'm about to have some fun with you."


	4. An Angel?

Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I had been writing this story and forgotten to update it on here. Anyway, I'm not sure if I'll continue with this story or not, but if people keep asking me too, then I will. I'm also busy with school and other things that I might not be able to update this story for a little while. I'll do my best though. Bye for now!

* * *

_**Kari POV**_

Piper twirled her sword beside her by a piece of cloth on the hilt and giggled.

"You'd better entertain me as much as oneesama said you would." She said.

Without warning, she flew at me with her sword. I was lucky enough to dodge it quickly enough. Piper turned around and smiled.

"I'm having fun already, but how long can you keep it up?" she asked playfully.

She flew at me again, but this time I wasn't so lucky. The sword grazed my left shoulder and I fell to my knees and cried out in pain. Piper flew in front of me and rested her sword on her shoulder.

"Uh, oh, looks like I might have broken my new toy." She said disappointed.

"You think I'm gonna let myself be beaten so easily?" I asked staggering to my feet while holding my bleeding shoulder with my right hand. "Just because I don't have a weapon with me doesn't mean that I can't defend myself. I just prefer not to fight against little kids."

Piper pouted. "I'm no little! I'm ten years old and I'm the strongest warrior in my Clan!"

_Clan? She looks like she's from our planet? Maybe she's talking about being from a different family or something... but I've never heard of our kind being put into __**clans**__._

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, like I care." I said bored. "Now if you don't mind, I'm going to go back to the café."

I had only taken a few steps when I began to feel dizzy. My vision became blurry and I lost my balance and fell to the ground. Piper took off laughing, but not before I heard her say something that made my eyes widen in shock.

"Ryu's gonna be very pleased with me!"

_Ryou? She said Ryou, right? I'm sure I heard her right. No, no, she probably said Ryu. Stupid me, they might sound alike, but I should learn that Ryou wouldn't attack me with a little kid. He doesn't look like that kind of person. Anyway, why did she attack me? I've never met her before, even though she's from our planet, so there's nothing I could've done to her for her to hold a grudge against me... and why... why do I suddenly feel so... so..._

My eyes blacked out and I lost consciousness.

_**FF**_

When I came around, I found that someone was carrying me in their arms. My vision was still a little blurry, so I didn't know who it was and I automatically assumed it was my brother.

"Arigato Kishu." I said weakly.

"Oh, you're awake, that's good." A familiar voice said. "Oh, and I'm not Kishu."

I rubbed my eyes to clear my blurry vision and saw blonde hair and aquamarine blue eyes.

"Ryou?! What are you doing you pervert!?" I yelled trying to get away.

"Stop struggling, you've been badly injured." Ryou said tightening his grip on me, but not to where it was uncomfortable.

I stopped struggling and relaxed in Ryou's arms. It was strange, I didn't know why, but I kinda liked the way he was carrying me. I leaned my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes.

"Honto arigato Ryou," I mumbled happily before falling asleep in his arms.

But my dream was the farthest thing from happy, but I don't want to talk about it… yet.

_**The Next Day**_

I opened my eyes and found that I was lying on a bed in a white room. I sat up and looked around. The room was empty except for the bed and a desk with a computer on it. I heard footsteps outside the door and Ryou walked in carrying a tray.

"Oh good, you're up." Ryou said putting the tray down in front of me. "I brought you some soup. I thought it might make you feel better."

"Oh, t-thank you." I said as a blush crept across my face.

Just as I finished my soup, Kishu walked into the room.

"Kari, thank goodness you're okay." He said. "Ichigo just told me that Ryou had found you unconscious by the lake and I was beginning to worry." He turned to Ryou. "Thank you for taking care of Kari for me."

"Don't mention it. Now that we're not enemies, it's the least I could do." Ryou replied. He took the tray and walked out of the room.

"Um, Kishu…"

"Yeah?"

"Is it okay, um… if I stay here a while longer?" I asked.

"Why would you want to—oh, is it because of…_ him_?" Kishu asked.  
"Yeah, he's kinda been creeping me out more than usual lately. I'd rather not have to go back home so soon."  
"Well, I have to go home and talk to Pai about the information that you helped us get." He sighed. "I guess you'll have to be on your own for a while, but I promise to come back as soon as I can so we can do stuff together."  
"It's alright, I understand." I sighed looking away from him. "What you need to do is way more important than wasting your time with me."  
Kishu grabbed my shoulder and turned me around so that I was looking him straight in the eyes.  
"It's not that!" he said angrily. His face softened and he added, "It's just… I feel bad about making you have to wait longer for me."  
I smiled and caressed his cheek.  
"Kishu, I don't mind waiting for you a while longer." I said softly. "As long as I stay here I can be with Ichigo and Ryou and the others, so I won't be alone anymore waiting for you. But if I waited for you back home… I fear that he will take me away and then I might never see you again."  
Kishu sighed and stepped back.  
"As long as you're happy, that's all I want." He said before he evaporated.

_**That Night**_

"I'm going to go and look around a bit." I said walking out of the café.  
I walked around the park and headed into town. I passed by many kinds of stores and stopped in front of one that sold wedding dresses. I looked at the dresses and shivered.  
"Thank heavens he's not here!" I sighed. "I'd hate to see his reaction to one of these."  
My head began to swarm with memories from when I was little and they weren't helping my situation. I ran off and found a school. I flew up to the roof and leaned against the fence.  
"Why do I have to remember him now?! Why can't I just forget about him?!" I cried angrily. "It's not like I like the teme, I mean he's a freakin' ero! I can't believe he thinks I'm going marry him!"  
Tears began to fall down my face, but I didn't care. I needed to cry.  
There was a bright light in front of me and I looked up to see the girl from before with another girl. She had long white hair and black eyes. She had little black panda ears and tail. She was wearing a white tank top and black shorts.  
"What's wrong Kari?" the new girl asked.  
"Nothing." I say coldly.  
"Aneko, I thought you said this girl is supposed to be her, but she's not acting like her at all." The panda girl said to the cat girl.  
"That's because she doesn't even know about that herself Maeko." Aneko replied. "Kari just got here and I thought it would be better to give her time to get used to her new surroundings first."  
"What in the name of decency are you two talking about?!" I asked agitated.  
They look at me and I sweat-dropped.  
"Never mind, if you don't want to tell me then you don't have to." I said sheepishly.  
"I'll tell you." Aneko said stepping forward and pulling me to my feet. "You are an angel."


End file.
